Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2) (23 page)

"Damn. You're my best worker
too. I can't match that really. A chance at being a music star? That's pretty
big. Even if it doesn't really work out. I can call you in though, part time?
On order nights?" He seemed hopeful about that. Since those were mainly on
Tuesday and Wednesday nights, he nodded. After all, no one held concerts then,
did they?

"Probably. I'll need to be
picked up though, and taken back, I bet. I can still count on you for Coalition
stuff? I was kind of worried that you'd be mad at me. I just started
here."

"Eh, well, the bookstore is
mainly
a hobby of mine. A way of making me seem more Human than I really am. If you
have something better to be off doing, I can't stop you. I mean, I could, but I
won't
. Be careful. Keeley isn't the worst Greater Demon ever, but she'll
use you without thinking about it."

"Won't everyone?" He
managed not to sound sarcastic when he said that part. Ty was pretty proud of
that.

"Yeah. They really will.
Most of them won't even know when they're doing it. Even your friends and loved
ones, in the end. It doesn't make them bad, all the time, but keep your eyes
open. Especially with my people. Remember, you always have a right to set the
conditions on things, but no one will
tell
you that. Sit down with
Keeley and hammer out exactly what you and the others working with you want
first. She'll hold to it then."

Without looking back at him, he
walked out, using the owl door.

Leaving Ty all alone.

It was, he realized as soon as he
got home, a much bigger deal than Keeley had painted the whole thing. When you
got down to it, there was nearly no way for it to all work out. He was supposed
to call up Ginger's Vampire mom and get her to let her little daughter go off
to a different state with him.

Then call the President of all
the Shifters and suggest that they needed a new embassy in a place where they didn't
already have one.

"Oh, also, don't forget to
put my girlfriend in that position so I can keep fucking her, sir."
That
would go over well.

Calley stumbled out of her room,
squinting and without her glasses on, which made her look very different.
Younger and more vulnerable. She smiled at him.

"Did you want to have sex?
It's early, but if you let me brush my teeth first, maybe catch a
shower..."

He nearly said no, then realized
that would be insane.

"We can shower together?
I've never done that, but I've been working for two days straight. To answer
the question though, yes. Sex would be good. Very much so. I missed you."
That was only sort of true, but sounded like the right thing to say.

She got a dreamy look then.

"My favorite way to wake up.
Come on."

The whole thing started in the
shower and ended in his bed, which got a little damp from their clean bodies.
His Bat friend was solid, energetic and had good endurance. He didn't get
tired, and probably met the other criteria as well, though he didn't move
around as much. Plus he was shower water temperature, more or less. Calley didn't
seem to mind that part. After they finished, she rolled over and held him with
one arm.

"So, what's up for today?
You work, right?"

That was true. He was on the
schedule to start at ten that morning, but planned to go in earlier than that.

"Yep. I have some calls to
make first, if I can. I..." He sighed, and then nearly blurted out the
plan. Part of it, anyway. "I was offered a place, in a band. Keyboards and
singing? It will mean moving. Um, you know the All Vampire Band?" He didn't
know if she would, but got a nod.

"They're good. I heard they
broke up."

"Kind of like that. Anyway,
their lead singer and drummer, and this other guy wanted to start something.
It's kind of Keeley putting it all together. So I'd have to move to her
territory, in Nevada?"

Calley pouted a little bit and
seemed upset.

"Oh. I can see you wanting
to take that. I know you play. You're that good?" She looked away then,
hiding her eyes from him.

"I should be humble and
claim that I'm not, but yeah. I guess so. I used to practice a lot. Sometimes
ten hours a day. I get that my mom encouraged me now. You know the whole slave
to a Greater Demon thing? At the time it just seemed like the best thing ever.
I learned to fight the same way."

"You have to take it then,
don't you?" She was so sorrowful that it kind of hurt for a second, until
he remembered the rest of it.

"
Soooo
, Keeley
suggested that I put in a word that she was looking to set up an embassy there.
I was going to call Jahn Samson later today. She asked for you, specifically.
Actually, she wants
you
for it even if you dump me. Ginger has been
offered a place as the second in command there, so I don't have to call the
leader of the Vampires for that part. Just her cute and scary mom. I... It's
all right if you don't want to go. Or if you do, but don't want me to be part
of it." Tyler would be fine after all, if that was the case. Hurt, and
probably lonely, but that was all. He'd live.

After a fashion.

Calley seemed to relax a lot then
and snuggled into him.

"Really? That's nice of her.
I wonder if it will happen? Well, you can do that for me, right? I know that
Jahn always takes my calls, personally." There was enough sarcasm to her
voice on that point that he knew it wasn't real. It probably didn't come up
that often.

Ty shrugged.

"Like
he's
the one
I'm worried about? He's a great man. If it can be done, he'll make it happen, I
bet. Even if it's just to not piss off The Mistress of Souls. I need to get
with Ginger though, too. And then make it all happen. I..." He stopped,
then just stood up, got some pants and a shirt and pulled them on.

Putting that part off wasn't
going to help and it was still before sunrise strictly speaking. If he wanted
to sweet talk Lenore Hawthorn, there was literally no better time than the present.
Before the sun got hot enough to rip at her soul all day.

Her number wasn't that hard to
find, being right there in his cell phone, put there by the lady herself.
Dialing with a few deft taps, he stopped breathing, not knowing what to say in
particular.

"Hello? This is Lenore
Hawthorn, how may I help you?" She sounded sweetly polite and very
youthful.

He tried for the same.

"Hi Lenore. Tyler Gartner
here. I was hoping to talk to you? Is this a good time?"

"It is! Is it about marrying
Ginger? There
have
been a few Vampire weddings now, so I think that
would be safe, but you're both very young, given the age we live in. Perhaps
you should wait a bit?" She was playing with him. Teasing.

"Our love can't be denied.
You understand. I was thinking of taking her to Nevada, and eloping."

That got the woman to stop. It
was a sudden thing, one that nearly made a click, the quiet slapping his ear.

"Wait. You aren't
serious
,
are you? That wouldn't work for me. I'm too young to be a grandmother. I hate
to be that kind of parent, but you know, I'll have to put my foot down."

Tyler took a deep breath then,
his stomach a knot he bet. Even if he couldn't feel it.

"How about a compromise
then? I take her off to Nevada, but there
won't
be a wedding, just a job
as second in command there? She's a Master Vampire, and probably too new to it
for a full time gig where she's in charge, but I have to move, and it
would
be a good one for her." He didn't mention the rest of it, but worked out
lots on her own after a few minutes.

"So, you wish her to be put
in place in Sparks? That has the Mistress of Souls written all over it. I
suppose it could be worse, all things considered. Let me make some calls. Have
you mentioned this to her yet?" Meaning Ginger, it was obvious.

"Nope. I didn't want to get
her hopes up. I think that we're also setting up an embassy there. No node, if
I have that right, but with different groups? I'm making the suggestion to the
shifters today, if that means anything to you?"

There was silence for a bit, then
a soft sound that seemed pleasant. Like a half purr.

"So, you want to set my
daughter up as the Assistant Ambassador? I suppose that means placing Felicia
in the prime spot. That... Well, I think she can handle it. Let me see to this?
I need to speak to some people."

It was still a bit early to call
Jahn Samson yet.

Calley, still without her
glasses, called him back to bed.

"So half of its done now? Or
at least looking good. This is kind of exciting! Even if it doesn't work for
me, at least my buds are getting things set up. That's enough." As sad as
she'd been about it before, she seemed better then. Either thinking that it
would work out in the end, or trying to put on a brave face so as to not spoil
a good thing for Ginger and him.

Either was good for him, in the
moment. He spent some time just kissing her, and cuddling in his slightly damp
bed, until it was time for him to get off to work. Well, hours early, but that
was part of his plan for the day. Before he went she got dressed, and walked
over with him.

"
I
have to be there
anyway. Sixteen hour days for the time being, in case another attack comes up.
Not all the feminists were arrested after all."

"Which reminds me. I need to
talk to them, and see what the hell they were thinking. How angry are they at
the Alede anyway? I get it, I guess. I mean they're kind of the ultimate pretty
girls, and boys, but why go after them? They pretty much just sit back and have
sex, otherwise minding their own business. Feminists are supposed to be about
equal rights, or at least special rights for women and girls. I don't see the
overlap there, do you?"

His girlfriend moved along side
of him, shaking her head.

"Nope. Shifters are
different that way. We've had real equality for a long time. Everyone works,
fights and raises the kids together. I can't understand that part of the Human
world, you know? I mean, we have males and females, and we're just as different
as you that way, but no one gets up in a twist over it. I mean, it varies, but
if some construction workers cat called me, I'd just offer them hand jobs. If
they did that to Catherine, she'd be in their faces, yelling at them to shut
the fuck up. I can't think of anyone I grew up with just feeling afraid of
positive attention and walking off, cowering."

"I don't get that one
either. Clearly they do, which means it's probably real from their perspective,
regardless. Then, I guess I don't
have
to. I just need to work out how
to get them not to go after the Alede. I mean, that's my actual job. The one that
no one pays me for?"

They walked along holding hands,
until they got to the mall itself, since that might not be professional. At the
bookstore she left him, looking a bit wistful, but not explaining why. As she
walked away, her skirt shifting a bit as she did, he felt a bit scared. He
couldn't control what Jahn Samson did, after all. What if he lost Calley?
Before it hadn't seemed like that big of a deal, since they hadn't dated long.
Now it really felt hard. Like it would hurt a lot to go away without her.

That meant cleaning up solidly,
and straightening the store until nine-thirty, when he went to the back room
and dialed the Shifter leader's personal line.

"Samson here." It was a
bit abrupt. Nearly terse feeling for the normally friendly guy.

"Ty Gartner. Is everything
okay there?" It was a bit of a strange thing to ask, but the man let out a
long breath of air.

"Are you calling about the
Locution problem in Canada? I wouldn't have figured the Coalition would be
involved in that, since it isn't strictly going to affect any Humans. Did they
call you in to pressure me? I suppose we can share the territory with them, but
we won't just give it to them. We've held it for nearly six centuries as a
people. For them to move in now and try to drive us out is unconscionable."
He seemed pretty firm on that one.

"This is the first I'm
hearing about it. I could make a call or two, if you want? It might not help,
but if you're willing to share, that seems fair to me. I was getting in touch
on a totally different matter." One that might not be welcome at the
moment, if he had other things to deal with like that.

"I see. What can I do for
you?"

Tyler decided that lying was the
proper course then. At least if he wanted the whole thing to work.

"I managed to leverage The
Mistress of Souls into hosting an embassy in her territory. There's no node,
but it's in Nevada, which is a good location. The Vampires already have people
there, and are bringing in a new Master Vampire just to be the assistant.
That's pretty big for them, since they'll have two day walking Vamps there,
officially. Most places don't get that." It was true, as far as that went,
as long as it didn't fall through.

"Really now?" His thick
accent made the word really sound longer and sharper than Ty could have gotten
it to be. "So, we're being offered second fiddle to them again?"

"Nope. They're just
scrambling to get up to speed. They've had about a two hour head start because
they don't sleep at night. You'll want someone good there though, since I'm
going to be working out of that area. We're spreading the Coalition of Nations
out, so that if one of us goes down the rest can still respond. I'm going for
an actual office there. Wherever we end up."

"Hmmm. All right. Do you have
anyone in mind from our side of things? The Ambassador there, Catherine, would
she do? I could put her second in command there. Hale, I think. I've worked
with her. Competent woman."

Tyler didn't love the way that
was going, not really being a big Catherine fan. She was a bit of a bigot.
Against Humans in general. Which gave him an idea.

"You might want to flip those.
Calley is better with Humans, and seems to get along with everyone in general.
She also knows the new Assistant on the Vampire side there, which can't hurt,
being the only two groups that have anyone so far. I just have a good
relationship with
you
, so wanted to make sure you were in from the
start."

Because lying was fun.

"I'll make the offer to her
then. Calley Hale. Yes, I have a record here. Very well. Thanks for the heads
up."

He nearly hung up, then
remembered something.